Spanish Conquest Essay

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Colonial expansion under the crown of Castile was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through indigenous conversions. Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus and continuing for over four centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across most of present day Central America, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, and much of the rest of North America including the Southwestern, Southern coastal, and California's Pacific Coast regions of the United States. In the early 19th century the revolutionary movements resulted in the independence of most Spanish colonies in America, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico, given up in 1898 following the Spanish-American War, together with Guam and the Philippines in the Pacific. Spain's loss of these last territories politically ended Spanish colonization in America. European colonization of the Americas First colonization British colonization Couronian colonization Danish colonization Dutch colonization French colonization German colonization Norse colonization Portuguese colonization Russian colonization Scottish colonization Spanish colonization Swedish colonization Colonization of Canada Colonization of the U.S. Decolonization v t e Contents [hide] 1 Conquests 1.1 Spanish settlements 1.2 Mexico 1.3 Peru 1.4 Río de la Plata and Paraguay 2 Governing 2.1 Dominions 3 19th century 3.1 Demographic impact 4 Cultural impact 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 7.1 Historiography 8 External links Conquests Flag of Spanish conquistador with crown of Castile under red flag, used by Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro and others Spanish settlements Main article: Voyages of Christopher Columbus In newly unified

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